Iceman's Promotion
by FarSide0013
Summary: Days of Past's Visions Part I. For months Bobby has been asking to join the X-Men full time. Now if he can make it through the day alive, he might just get that new uniform.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story takes place not too long after Apocalypse. **

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**1**

Bobby Drake reached over and slammed down on the snooze button for the third time that morning. For the third time that morning, as he tried to once again fall asleep, he wondered why he kept hitting snooze instead of off, and more importantly, why hadn't he turned the alarm off the night before? It was a Saturday, one of those rare Saturdays where he didn't have to wake up early for a hellish Logan training session and one where all the cartoons he normally watched were repeats. There was absolutely no reason for him to be awake, and yet here he was, staring at the ceiling, and slowly coming to the realization that this time he wasn't falling back asleep.

He pulled himself out of bed and began digging for a shirt to wear. "I guess it wouldn't be so bad to have a Danger Room session this morning," he thought. "At least then it would mean I was with the X-Men instead of the New Mutants." Over the past year, ever since Apocalypse first showed up, he had been training off and on with the X-Men. It wasn't full time, and the others had been doing it some too, but Professor Xavier assigned Bobby training with the A-Team much more often.

The problem was that every time Bobby thought it was going to turn into full X-Man status for him, Xavier sent him back to the New Mutants. Not that he minded being with the New Mutants, they were his friends and he knew some day all of those who stayed at the institute would be promoted, but he knew his powers were more advanced then most of them and his control was one of the best in the entire Institute. He didn't feel conceited about that, he knew powers were like any part of growing up and they developed at different rates for different people. But his abilities were just one more reason for him to move up to the advanced class full time. "Okay, maybe my maturity isn't the best at times, but we're kids, we deserved to have fun sometimes. And even they have to admit that when things get serious so am I," he thought. He was certainly better than he used to be. There were a lot less people slipping on random ice patches in the halls, and he hadn't taken anything out on a joy ride in almost a month!

To top it all off, he was getting really bored of the plain New Mutants uniform he had to wear.

The situation for Bobby was more then just training, new uniforms and having bragging rights about being an X-Man. He wanted to be an X-Man because of what they did. Ever since coming to the Institute and learned what was going on beyond just teaching kids to control their powers, he knew it was his calling in life. He wanted to use his powers for good, to help other people. Admittedly, he originally had delusions of grandeur, of being just like one of his Saturday morning cartoon heroes, but the more time he spent at Xavier's the more he really just wanted to make a difference, and to make the most out of the gifts he had been given, even if the people he helped never knew it was him. And to be constantly teased like this, the gold ring of all his hopes and aspirations hanging just out of reach was getting to him.

"Not to mention the constantly changing schedule!" he said out loud to himself as he threw on a mostly clean shirt with the Institute's logo over the heart. "It would be nice to keep my alarm at one time so I don't have to worry about forgetting to turn it off."

"Oh well, I'm up, might as well get something to eat and watch those reruns. Hopefully no one else is in the kitchen right now," he said, still talking to himself as he left his room. "It'll be nice to have a peaceful meal for once." He thought about this for a moment. The weekends tended to be free for alls when it came to meals, with nothing big prepared for everyone on their way to school, thus making the kitchen the mealtime battlefield instead of the dining room. Kitty and Bobby were currently working on programming a Danger Room scenario to recreate it and unleash on their unsuspecting teammates. This early though, Bobby figured it wouldn't be too bad. The X-Men should be in the Danger Room this morning ("So should I," he grumbled to himself), and most of the New Mutants if not all of them should still be asleep. The only ones he could think of being awake this early would be Jamie and Sam, but probably not with no new cartoons to entice them out of bed. The only ones he knew would be up today would be Storm and Beast, both of whom could be helping out in the Danger Room. But even if they weren't Bobby didn't mind. A peaceful conversation with either would be preferable to the chaos of a normal Institute breakfast. He had to smile at that thought. As much as he loved to cause chaos, and even if he contributed by giving people frozen breakfasts, sometimes it could be just too much for the resident prankster.

He was shaken out of these thoughts as he walked into the kitchen and found most of the X-Men sitting inside. Scott and Jean were talking at the table in hushed tones together about something that seemed serious, Rouge was reading a newspaper on the window bench and Kurt was teleporting around the room, searching various cabinets. "Oh man!" he cried. "Don't tell me ve are out of little chocolate donuts. My breakfast von't be complete vithout zhem!"

"Hey, what are you all doing here?" Bobby asked. "Shouldn't you be in the Danger Room this morning?" They certainly looked the part. All of them were in uniform, though Scott had put on his glasses, his visor resting on the table.

Scott spoke for the group. "We were on our way down when a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter landed out front. Fury had something important to talk to the Professor about. Logan and Storm are in with the Professor talking to him right now."

"Great, probably more trouble from Logan's past for us to deal with," Bobby said sitting at the table. He reached out for a plate of muffins before stopping dead. "Kitty didn't make these, did she?"

Jean laughed. "No, Storm and Amara made them yesterday."

He continued and grabbed one, pulling the top off and taking a bite as he tossed away the bottom. "Okay, good. I don't understand how a girl that smart can't follow a recipe."

"I totally heard that Bobby!" said the girl in question as she phased through the main pantry door. She smacked him on the arm as she tossed a box of donuts to Kurt. "Here you go, one last box."

"Zhanks Kitty, you're a life saver!"

Kitty picked an orange out of the fruit bowl and sat down to peel it. "I should freeze that orange for that smack," he thought. "No, don't do that!" he countered himself. "You're trying to show them that you're mature enough to be an X-Man."

He banished thoughts of the surprised look Kitty would have as she bit into an orange ice cube, and instead found himself trying to discreetly look at her as he finished his muffin top and reached for another one. He had always found her cute, but when she cut her hair after the incident with Lance and the Brotherhood, he found she looked, grown up he guessed, less like a little valley girl and more like a woman. "Helps that she filled out a bit and in all the right places too," he thought. She started to turn to where she could see him looking and he quickly averted his eyes, only to come into eye contact with Jean, who just smiled and rolled her eyes. Boys, echoed in his head, and he felt himself blushing as he quickly averted his eyes from her too.

"So what do you think the General is doing here?" Kitty asked to the group.

"Whatever it is, it must be pretty bad. Ah saw the look on his face when he came up to the Professor, he looked, ah don't know, scared almost." Rogue had put down her paper and joined them at the table, taking a peach out of the fruit basket.

"I'm sure the Professor will let us know when the time is right. Until then we should be ready for the worst," Scott said, always the fearless leader.

"Hey Scott, when whatever it is pops up, am I going to get a chance at it?"

"I don't know Bobby; it's not up to me."

"Come on Scott, how many times have I fought along side you guys? Or trained with you? I'm used to working with you. All I'm asking for is a shot."

"All right, I'll admit, you've been pretty good in a fight. And you're attitude has definitely matured. But I don't know if the Professor is ready to put you on the X-Men. In the end it's his choice."

"This is crap!" Bobby said, his frustration rising. "I'm older then Spyke was when he started, hell, I'm older than Kitty and Kurt were! I've been by your side against the Brotherhood, the Acolytes, Area 51, Juggernaut, and even Storm when Apocalypse was pulling the strings. I'm practically an X-Man, why do I keep being held back?"

"Being an X-Man is more than just having your own uniform and bragging to the New Mutants. It's not about fighting and being a superhero. It's about living up to a standard, about being an example to people to show that mutants aren't monsters and villains. It's being the public face for every dream Xavier has had about mutants and humans coexisting. And with Magneto starting to gather his forces again, it's more important than ever that we prove ourselves. Do you really think you're ready for that?"

"Protecting a world that hates and fears us, I get it. It's what I want to do Scott. There are a lot of people who need help out there, both against the types of threats we've taken down and help in understanding mutants. I want to be there for that because it's the right thing to do. I'm not trying to be selfish here. It's just I know I can help and I hate not being able to."

He could see Scott thinking this over. Rogue was staring at him like she was thinking over what he said too, though he could see the hint of a smile, while Jean looked as if she might be probing his sincerity. He didn't mind, he had meant every word. He could also see both Kurt and Kitty were grinning at him. He could especially see Kitty, and again felt himself blushing a bit. Stay cool Iceman, he thought, try to figure that out later.

Finally Scott spoke up. "All right Bobby, you win. Next chance I get I'll put in a good word to the Professor. Just remember, it's up to him in the end."

"Thanks Scott. I hate being on the sidelines when I know I can be making a difference."

"Don't worry Icee, I sure things will work out just fine," Kitty said with a grin. She had taken to calling him that recently, and he hadn't decided if he found it annoying or endearing.

Suddenly the ground began to shudder, and alarms began ringing out in the mansion.

"Proximity alarm!" shouted Cyclops as he swapped his glasses with the visor on the table. "Let's move out. Looks like you get your chance to help on this one Drake."

"Oh mah Gad! Look out!" screamed Rogue, diving out of the way of the window as a giant, metallic hand crashed through the glass and wall surrounding it. It lifted upwards, through the ceiling and floor above that, leaving a gap through which the mutants picking themselves off the ground could see what the hand had been attached to.

Bobby stared up. "Oh, fu—"

"MUTANT LIFE SIGNS DETECTED. SUBDUE AND CAPTURE PROCEDURES INITIATED. ATTENTION MUTANTS: SURRENDER OR FACE TERMINATION."


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

"I think we'll take option 3. X-Men, let him have it!"

On Cyclops's order, an optic blast hit the Sentinel in the eyes, a shell of ice formed around the torso cannons, and a crossbeam from the collapsed ceiling attempted to impale itself in the knee joint of the robot. It reeled backwards a bit from the combined attack, but did not fall.

"HOSTILE MUTANTS ENCOUNTERED. LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED IN EVENT OF CAPTURE FAILURE. KNOWN MUTANTS 5 AND 8 DETECTED AND IDENTIFIED. RECOMMENDED COUNTERMEASURES INITIATED. UNKNOWN MUTANT POWER SIGNATURE DETECTED. DATABASE ENTRY 35 CREATED. CAPTURE MUTANT 35 FOR FURTHER EXAMINATION."

"Man that guy is loud!" Iceman said as he fully iced up and fired another blast at the Sentinel, attempting to freeze more of its cannons. He could see a light glowing under the ice. A quick burst of energy shot out of the primary laser, vaporizing the ice and taking out more chunks of the ceiling. Bobby created a shield of ice above him to protect himself and Rogue, who had dove over towards him as the Sentinel crashed through the window.

"Ah need some power, you're closest!"

"Just don't knock me out," he said, unfreezing his hand for her to touch. She quickly brushed her bare hand over his and pulled away. His knees went weak for a moment but he soon recovered. The debris stopped falling and they left the shell.

"Nightcrawler, 'port Shadowcat, we'll cover you!" called out Cyclops over the roar of a just fired rocket. Jean quickly grabbed it out the air with some TK and sent it back at the attacker. It exploded and again the Sentinel flinched back.

"On it!" Nightcrawler grabbed Shadowcat's hand, and in a puff of smoke they disappeared. In an instance they were outside, twenty feet above the Sentinel. He dropped Kitty and teleported back into the kitchen. She flipped her body and plunged straight downward arms outstretched like a diver aimed towards the head of the Sentinel.

The robot, having heard Kurt's reentry, looked up, moving its head out of Kitty's path. It ignored another volley of optic blasts and ice and reached up in an attempt to grab her, but she had already phased and passed through its hand and part of its arm. Her descent continued and she dove into the ground. The Sentinel attempted to reach her before she passed through the ground, but its hand would not reopen.

"ERROR: ELECTRICAL DISRUPTION. RIGHT ARM SYSTEMS: DISABLED. KNOWN MUTANTS 6 AND 7 DETECTED AND IDENTIFIED. RECOMMENDED COUNTERMEASURES INITIATED."

Shadowcat's head came up out of the ground a few feet from where she dove in. "Okay, let's try that again." She phased fully out of the ground and jumped at the Sentinel, planning to phase her way up through its body to its head. Instead, she bounced off of its leg and landed sprawled out on the ground winded.

"COUNTERMEASURES FOR MUTANT 7 SUCCESSFULLY FIELD TESTED. CAPTURE MODE INITIATED."

The Sentinel's left arm opened up to reveal several types of weapons and it pointed them at the downed X-Men. Iceman was the only one to notice, as the Sentinel had also fired a volley of energy beams which the other members were attempting to dodge or deflect. "Kitty hang on!" With one hand outstretched, he made an ice slide and shot off towards her. With his other he fired an ice beam at the green holding gel the Sentinel shot at her, deflecting it towards the machine's foot where it pinned the metal to the ground. As he reached Shadowcat he scooped her up with his arm and slid back towards the hole in the kitchen.

The cold of his body stirred her out of her daze with a groan. "Ugghh. Remind me not to do that again, once was embarrassing and painful enough. It somehow blocked my phase!"

"Don't worry 'Cat, I've got—"

His words were cut off as rocket exploded right at his heels, shattering the ice slide and sending the two of them flying into the gap in the wall. He reached out to grab hold of Kitty, hoping she could phase them to break their fall but she had been thrown out of reach. He saw what was left of the kitchen table pass below him before he felt Jean's power grab him and set him down safely. He saw Jean had done the same for Kitty. Turning to try and launch another attack at the Sentinel he saw Rogue making an ice wall to plug the hole. Outside he could see the Sentinel spraying some sort of gas on the gel entrapping its foot. Bobby joined Rogue in sealing the hole, and in no time they had a thick wall of ice that ran the length of the room. A rocket smashed against it, followed by a beam, but it was thick enough to hold.

Cyclops gathered the team. "Alright, we don't have much time. Jean, where is everyone else?"

"Storm and Logan are fighting a Sentinel that's captured the Professor; I can't sense him or anyone else so I'm guessing there are more than these two Sentinels."

Another volley of attacks hit the ice wall, shaking more debris from the ceiling. Jean protected them with a TK shield. Cyclops continued. "Okay, here's the plan, I'm going to blast us a hole out before the whole building comes down around us. We'll attack it in open ground and try to lure it to the training course. The weapons might not take it down by themselves but they might give us some openings. Nightcrawler, 'port Shadowcat over there and you two get things ready. Rogue, you're going to need to take some more powers. Iceman, you, Rogue and I are going to try and take that thing apart as we lead it to the training course. Jean, you give us some cover. Let's get moving people!"

Rogue brushed her hand against Jean's face, the equally quickly against Cyclops's. When the momentary weakness left him, he dialed his visor to full and blasted a hole into the wall adjacent to the iced one just as the Sentinel used it disabled hand as a battering ram through the ice. The X-Men ran outside, the Sentinel pulling itself out of what was left of the kitchen and facing the regrouped team. Nightcrawler and Shadowcat disappeared once again in a burst of smoke just as another glob of green gel landed where they had been standing.

"Lead it to the course!" shouted Cyclops, firing mostly minor blasts at the towering robot as he backed up towards the training course. He blasted a few more rockets out of the air as Jean continued to deflect them back at the Sentinel. Rogue and Bobby would freeze the balls of holding gel, the extra weight causing them to land short of the targets. The Sentinel itself continued to walk slow, ground shaking steps towards them.

Kurt and Kitty teleported back to Cyclops's side. "Ve are ready to rock und roll!"

"Kurt, you and Kitty get out of here," he said, turning to point back towards the course. "You can't do any more right now—" he was cut off as a ball of capture gel hit and surrounded him. He tried to blast it away but it was too late. It closed over his head and hardened.

Shadowcat tried to phase through to get him out but her hand just pressed against it. "Oh no, it's countering my phase too!"

Jean stepped between the path of the coming Sentinel and Cyclops. "You are not taking him from here!" She launched a full telekinetic attack, bombarding the Sentinel with shards of frozen gel, debris from the mansion, and pure mind power. Iceman joined in the attack, creating more blocks of ice for Jean to launch while Rogue attempted to use her optic blasts to free Scott. The maelstrom swirled around the machine, dents forming in its armor as more and more objects were flung at it by Jean.

"OVERWHELMING FORCES ENCOUNTERED, ACTIVATING PRIMARY WEAPON SYSTEMS."

The Sentinel's main beam weapon powered up, firing a concentrated energy blast at her. Just in time Jean focused her power in front of her, creating a shield to hold off the laser. Hands outstretched, the force pushing against her actually forced her backwards, her boots digging into the ground as she started to slide. Beads of sweat formed on Jean's brow as the Sentinel maintained the beam, but her shield held against it. Iceman attempted to freeze part of the robot to distract it, but the heat emanating for the weapon in its chest melted the ice before it ever reached metal.

"Jean watch out!" she heard Kitty cry out, but before she could react the Sentinel's beam shut off and a batch of green gel lobbed above Jean's head hit her and knocked her to the ground. Kitty, who had been attempting to reach Jean and phase her into the ground, was also hit by the gel. It quickly covered both girls and hardened.

"We're taking too many losses here, we need to put this thing down!" Iceman called out. "Rogue—"

"Ah'm on it," she said, picking enough out of his head with Jean's powers. "Let's see how this bucket of bolts lahkes a piece of me!"

As her formed ice armor around her body, Rogue rose off the ground with telekinesis, coming to eye level with the Sentinel. She threw out her hands, ice daggers forming and flying to strike the Sentinel in the shoulders and neck. Her eyes glowed red and an optic blast that would stumble the Juggernaut struck the head of the giant robot.

It reeled backwards, pieces of its armor peeling away under the stress, but planted its feet in a stance to withstand the attack.

"UNKNOWN MUTANT POWER SIGNATURE DETECTED. DATABASE ENTRY 36 CREATED. CAPTURE MUTANT 36 FOR FURTHER EXAMINATION."

"Hate ta burst your bubble sugah, but you ain't taking no one no where!"

She renewed her attack, forcing more power out of her eyes and hands, but this time the Sentinel slipped on the ground and fell over a large block of ice. It came down hard on a second piece of ice, a large spike jutting upwards. Part of the spike shattered under the weight, but the stronger base broke through the armor on the robot's back and punctured its inner systems. While Rogue had been attacking, Bobby had created the ice structures behind the Sentinel and frozen the ground under it. Rogue used her telekinesis to keep the disorientated robot down and began to freeze it to the ground from above while Iceman worked on it from below.

"ERROR: SYSTEMS FAILING. CENTRAL MEMORY CORE DAMASCRZZZZ!"

"Finally the damn thing shuts up!" shouted Iceman as he finished piling some more ice onto the Sentinel.

"I can't believe zhat worked!" Nightcrawler said as he teleported next to Bobby. "It vas like a cartoon, I could almost hear zhe banana peel sounds!"

Bobby laughed. "Saturday Morning Cartoons, now a required training session!"

"Enough jokes you two, we gotta fahnd out what happened to everyone else," Rogue said as she landed next to them. "Ah could see smoke from the other sahde of the mansion from up there, we should head—"

An energy beam shot out of the block of ice on the ground. "Oh man, guess it didn't work zhat much. Vhat do ve do now?"

"Keep hittin' it until it stay down!" she answered, and she and Iceman began to once again fire ice beams at the machine.

The Sentinel lifted its arms, sending the ice flying in every direction. Smaller weapon systems blasted more of the ice off of it, uncovering most of its body. The three mutants hit the ground, with Rogue only avoiding a larger shard of flying ice by wildly flinging it away with telekinesis.

"Ahm getting really sick of this gah," she said as she pulled herself off the ground. The Sentinel was also pushing itself up, and was almost off of the ice spike when the X-Men heard a ferocious roar from the rooftop.

Wolverine launched himself at the rising robot, claws outstretched. He imbedded them into the Sentinel's exposed chest, the weight of his adamantium bones forcing it back to the ground. Wolverine dug his claws deeper and swept them out to the side, ripping open most of the chest cavity and destroying most of the weapons there. The three mutants on the ground could see the front of his uniform had been destroyed, and the revealed flesh was burned but healing. He had various other burns on his body that looked mostly healed compared to his chest. Despite any pain he felt, his berserker nature had taken over.

"You messed with the wrong mutants bub!" Wolverine growled as he continued to claw apart the Sentinel's chest.

"ERROR: SYSTEMS FAI—"

Wolverine had pounced off the chest onto the head, again ripping the metal open with a sweeping motion. "Shut! Up!" he said, stabbing downward with each syllable. A few more swipes of his claws and the robot went limp below him.

After pausing to catch his breath and calm himself, Logan sheathed his claws and looked down at the three below. "Sentinels took the others up to some sort of carrier 'bot. We're going to need a way to get in there and GRAAARRRRRRRR!"

Logan suddenly arched forward as two cables shot from the sky into his back. Above them, two Sentinels hovered, and they could see the electrical current running from the Sentinels down into Wolverine. They both raised their other arms and launched a volley of capture gel at the X-Men.

"Look out!" Nightcrawler said, grabbing Bobby and teleporting out. Rogue attempted to blast those coming for her but there were too many. She eventually was covered and captured like the rest. Wolverine was captured without a fight, helpless after the shock.

Bobby and Kurt appeared in the woods some distance away from the battlefield. They ran to the tree line and looked out. The two Sentinels were loading the captured mutants into what looked like a Sentinel mixed with a C-130, while a third was removing what was left of the head of the Sentinel Wolverine had slashed apart. As the machines worked the boys could here a conversation between them.

"MUTANTS 6 AND 35 ESCAPED THE CONTAINMENT AREA," one said.

"MUTANT 2 AND THE MAJORITY OF THE TARGETS ARE CONTAINED, LOSSES DEEMED ACCEPTABLE. RETURN TO BASE ORDER RECEIVED," said another.

When everything was loaded, the Sentinels lifted in the air and formed a perimeter around the Carrier, which was slowly lifting off the ground.

"Oh man, vhat are ve going to do? Zhey captured everyone but us! Vell never find zhe Sentinel base! Maybe if ve found General Fury he could help. He vas probably here to warn zhe Professor about zhe Sentinels."

"We don't have time for that Kurt, we have to get into that transport and get them now or who knows what they're going to do to our friends. Who knows where Fury is now. I don't think S.H.I.E.L.D.'s number is listed."

"You're right. So vhat do ve do? How do ve get in there?"

"You've got to bamf us in there and we figure it out how to free everyone from there."

"Are you crazy! I have no idea vhat it's like in zhere. I could get us stuck in a vall or something if I don't know vhere to go. It's too risky, ve should find another vay."

By now the transport was a story off the ground. "No other way Kurt, those Sentinels would see me sliding up to the transport and toast us. But I'm not going to let them be taken like this! We're X-Men, we watch out for our own. We gotta move now."

"Okay, fine, but if ve die it's all your fault."

Kurt grabbed hold of Bobby's shoulder and began praying under his breath. Then with a flare of smoke the two were gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

As the brief disorientation from teleporting cleared, Bobby iced up and looked around. He and Kurt were not trapped in a wall as feared, but standing on the lower level of a large cargo hold. Above them was a grated catwalk, creating a second floor around the edge of the tall room, and along the walls of the two levels were holding cages that utilized some sort of energy to create the bars. Most of these fields were off, but he could see many on the second floor were occupied.

"Zhis place is seriously creeping me out dude," Nightcrawler whispered. "It's way too empty."

"Yeah, tell me about it, and it's like a bad sci-fi show with all the weird panels and energy fields," Iceman whispered back. "Some of those cages upstairs are on, that's probably them."

"Ja, let's go." He grabbed Bobby and they appeared on the second floor. The started to look through the cages, and found most of the Institute was there. Inside they were all still inside the capture gel fired by the sentinels, suspended a few feet off the floor of the cell. "Looks like everyone is here but I don't see zhe Professor!"

"Okay," Bobby said, more to himself then to Kurt. "First thing we need to do is get the cages off, then we need to find a way to get them out of that gunk. Then we need to find the Professor and figure out a way off of this thing."

"Zhere is a control panel over here, I zhink," Kurt called, "can you hack into it?"

"Maybe, I'm no where near Kitty's level when it comes to computers, but I know a few tricks."

"No one's at Kitty's level. But I have faith in you."

"Thanks, hopefully that's enough."

Bobby shifted back into his normal form and looked over the control panel on the wall. It was a flat, touch screen monitor that seemed to link to a great number of the systems in the, was it a plane or a Sentinel? Bobby wasn't sure. Each in turn seemed to be linked to another, but none on the menus appeared to directly deal with the security cages. There didn't appear to be any encryption or security measures on the console itself, so Bobby felt he had been given a bit of a break. Not knowing where to start, Bobby clicked the lock icon marked Security.

The graphics on the screen changed to show a list of security features, including alarms and internal weapon systems. He was about to look for a back button when he noticed one called "Mutant Countermeasures". Curious, he clicked this one. The graphic changed again, showing a table listing out known mutants by their entry number, if countermeasures existed, if they were tested, and whether they were activated. There was also a list showing which mutant was in which cage.

An idea formed in his head. "Kurt, is Kitty with them?"

Kurt ran up and down the catwalk looking for her. "Ja, she's here! Cell 15," he called from almost directly across the square.

"Thanks!" He found Cell 15 in the far right column, next to the information for Mutant 7. The countermeasures were in effect. "Come on lucky number 7," he muttered to himself and began clicking on different parts of the row. He brought up a profile, complete with a picture from the first Sentinel battle, a rundown of her powers, and a very long description of how the anti-phase field they created worked. Each time he brought one of these new windows up he would scan it for a moment and then close it again.

"Vhat are you looking for?" Kurt asked, coming to stand next to Bobby.

"I'm looking for a way to turn off whatever they're using to block Kitty's phasing power. Then she can hopefully break out and help us out with the computer in finding a way to get everyone else out."

"Good plan, any luck?"

"Not really, I can't find a way to shut it off."

They continued to search almost randomly through pages, not finding anything helpful for either releasing Kitty or the rest of the team until Kurt spotted something. "Vait, go back, vhat was that? Zhat might have been it."

"Maybe," Bobby said, going back to what appeared to be some sort of control mechanism for the cell's secondary defenses. After a bit more poking around he felt that he had it. "Nice catch there Kurt, didn't even see it. Well, here's hoping this works," he said to Kurt as he pushed down on the button.

The screen flashed in acknowledgment of the command and returned to the main countermeasures menu. They held their breath.

Nothing happened.

"Now vhat?"

"I dunno. At least nothing exploded."

"Small comfort."

They heard a groan coming from behind them and turned to see Kitty falling through the bars of her cell, holding herself for a moment on the railing of the catwalk before tumbling over the edge. Bobby dove over the edge, icing up and making a slide down to the floor. He turned over in the air onto his back, sliding head first down the ice, catching her just as they were reaching the ground. He held her close to protect her as the momentum carried them into the far wall with a crash.

Kurt 'ported right next to them. "Gott im Himmel, are you two all right?"

"I think so, Kitty, you okay?"

She groaned again. "Oh God, am I dead? I feel like, like,"

"Like you just got out a car you vere driving after eating some of your cooking?"

"Ha, real funny fuzz ball." She opened her eyes, saw Bobby and smiled a bit. "What happened?"

"Everyone but Kurt and me were captured, so we're the rescue team."

"Ja, how does it feel to be rescued by zhe two most dashing and daring men in zhe whole Institute?"

She laughed a bit. "I feel honored. Thanks guys." She smiled again at Bobby. "I see you're making a habit of saving me."

He knew his face would be red if he wasn't iced up. "Guess so, maybe you should stop getting in trouble."

"Where's the fun in that though? Okay, I feel like I could stand... so you can let me go now… 'cause you're kinda freezing."

"Oh, right! Sorry." He let go of her, and with Kurt's help they both stood up. Bobby unfroze and made an apologetic smile at her.

She looked unsteady for a moment and Kurt held onto her shoulders. "I'm okay, just still a little woozy. It's passing." She rubbed her temples and ran her hand through her short hair and stopped when she found a bit of the gel stuck in it. "Oh this is just great! This stuff better come off, I've already had to cut my hair once this month!"

The three started to make their way back upstairs to the control panel, Bobby filling her in on what was happening as they went. "Basically, we're in a Sentinel cargo plane, or a cargo Sentinel, not really sure, it's pretty weird looking. We got you out by turning off whatever's blocking your phasing, figuring you could either phase the others out or figure out the computer better than we can."

"Okay, how are we getting out of here once we have everyone out?"

"Vell, we haven't gotten zhat far yet. We didn't want to explore too much in case zhere were guards or something near zhe cockpit. If zhere is a cockpit."

"Besides, with everyone powers we could probably figure out a way to get either the plane or everyone in it to the ground."

By this time they were at the panel and Kitty cracker her knuckles. "Okay computer, let's see what you can do for us in the hands of a professional."

In less then a minute she had opened a panel on the wall that revealed a keyboard and was diving into the computer system with a command line terminal. "I can't believe how easy this is. You think there would be more security."

"Maybe they never expected anyone to be awake back here."

"Maybe."

She continued to work for few minutes when suddenly the bars on the cages turned off. "Okay, cages are open, that's the easy part. No idea how to get them out of the gel."

"Can't you just phase them out?" Bobby asked.

"I could, but I have no idea how safe that is. The gel puts them into a sort of suspended animation. I was trying to phase through it when they got me, so the process wasn't complete. I just kinda fell out when you guys turned off the blocker, and felt like puking my guts out. I have no idea what would happen if I tried to take them out when they're fully suspended. And I can't figure out how whoever captured us would get someone out. Maybe they don't have a way here on the plane."

She kept searching, until Bobby remembered something. "Wait a minute, back when I was sliding in to rescue you outside the mansion, the hit some of that stuff back at the Sentinel, and remember seeing it use some sort of gas to get it off."

"Gas? I think I saw something about that. Hold on a minute."

While they waited Kurt and Bobby took a closer look at the nearest cell. Sure enough, near to top of the cell there was a type of nozzle. "Looks like zhere is a way for it to come out if zhey have any."

"Okay, found it. I didn't recognize they type of gas so I figured it was some sort of knockout or nerve gas. Every cell seems to have a dispenser, should just take a minute or two to get around the overrides."

Just as she finished speaking the entire plane suddenly lurched, and they could feel their stomachs go up into their chest.

"Feels like we're going down!"

"Hurry Kitty, vherever ve are going ve are here!"

"I'm trying I'm trying. Oh crap!"

Alarms ran out through the cargo hold and they could feel the plane touch down on the ground. Kitty franticly searched for something to do, to either shut off the alarm she tripped or keep the cargo hold sealed long enough to wake everyone up, but she couldn't find anything.

"No time, come on!" Bobby grabbed Kitty away from the console and pulled Kurt with his other hand. They jumped over the railing and slid down Bobby's previous slide to the bottom floor, and dove behind the ice just as the doors to the cargo hold snapper open and a barrage of energy weapons fired into the room.

It didn't take long for the energy bolts to melt their way through the ice slide turned shield, and Bobby couldn't patch up the holes fast enough. Soon the shield was too damaged to work as cover and the teens were forced to scattered. Kurt was hit first as he teleported away to the second floor, which became covered in firepower before he had a chance to teleport way. Blasts hit him in the chest and legs and he went down. Kitty fell next, her body still not fully recovered from being suspended while phased. She was hit several times in the back as she dove for more cover.

Iceman was the last standing, and sent out waves of ice shards and freeze beams at what he could see now were soldiers in full combat armor. A few went down or were frozen in place before a beam hit him in the right shoulder. He spun out as he fell, and dazed himself as he landed on his face. He shifted back into human form as the soldiers rushed into the room, covering the downed mutants. He felt his arms being pulled behind his back and secured together with some sort of gauntlet cuffs. He groaned in pain as his shoulder was pulled.

"This one's still awake!" a soldier behind him called.

"I want to know how these mutants escaped containment! It does us no good if they can run amuck during transport."

"Sir, scanners have identified this one and the blue freak as mutants 35 and 6, the two who escaped the ops containment area. 6 is a teleporter."

"And they staged a rescue attempt. They're loyalty is commendable. They even managed to release the one who can walk through walls."

"Yes sir."

"Take those two to the labs with the others. Patch them up if they're alive, find out what makes them tick if they aren't. Bring him to me."

Bobby felt himself being pulled to his feet and pushed forward to a tall man in a lab coat. He could see Kitty and Kurt being carried off the plane. Bobby attempted to ice up and freeze his restraints to a point where he could break them, but was met with an electrical shock. He fell to his knees in pain.

"Ah, you found our manacles other use. We can't block all powers like the girl's, but we've found that a nice jolt when power activation is detected deters most. I have to admit, for a boy made of ice you have a lot of fire in you. It makes me wish some of our soldiers here had that same fire, but no matter." He nodded and the soldier behind Bobby pulled him to his feet again. He looked the scientist right in the eye. "Yes I think you'll do nicely. We hope to send your pet Wolverine back into test eventually, but no need to let you go to waste when you're so eager. Send him down to the test range."

The guard behind him shoved Bobby forward again. The next few minutes were a blur to him as he was dragged along windowless concrete corridors, passing the occasional closed door, and finally thrown through a small door into a large room with a ceiling too high to see. There were no distinguishable doors, even the one he had come in closed and looked like the rest of the wall. The room appeared to be oval in shape, but the room was dim enough that he couldn't tell for sure.

After a moment there was a clicking sound and the manacles fell off his wrists. He brought his hand up to massage his shoulder as his body iced up. It wasn't a Logan level healing factor, but his ice form helped the healing process. He looked for something to attack, something he could use to escape, but saw nothing.

There was the slight feedback of a speaker turning on and the scientist's voice echoed in the room. "Now 35, we are going to test our new model of close quarters combat Sentinels, used in clearing out buildings or sewers or other areas a full sized Sentinel couldn't enter. You are to combat it so that we can judge its capabilities."

"How about I just sit down here and not play your game?"

"You may of course choose to do that. However, I have just learned that 7, the girl, is still alive. If you choose not to fight, the Sentinel will kill you and I will put a bullet in the girl's head myself. If you fight, regardless of the outcome, she will live. For now, of course."

"You've left me with so many options to choose from, I don't suppose I get some time to think about this, do I?"

"I'm afraid not." There was a sliding sound as a piece of the wall opened to reveal a Sentinel that looked a great deal like the full sized version, but about seven feet tall. It immediately launched an attack of laser fire from both of its wrists. Iceman formed an ice wall in front of him that absorbed the shots, then took off with an ice slide around the room. Using one hand to guide the slide, he shot ice spikes at the Sentinel, aiming for the exposed areas around its joints. A few lodged into the cables holding the right elbow together, shredding them apart and making the limb useless. Another burst of lasers hit slide he was creating in front of him. Bobby tucked his head into a shoulder roll, forming a spear out of ice as he did. With a new slide, he picked up speed and threw in at the Sentinel, impaling the neck and severing the head. The robot fell backwards with a clang that echoed in the large stone room.

"I don't suppose this means I get to go home?"

"Nice try 35, but you've merely confirmed that our initial designs were flawed. We will now move on to more recent models."

"What do you have against mutants anyways? Why are you putting so much effort into killing people when you could be helping them with this technology?"

"I am helping. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fanatic like Trask who wants them dead simply for living. I recognize that some mutants might be innocent, but with too many of them taking the Magneto route, or maybe worse, fighting a vigilante war against him, the problem needs to be eliminated."

"And those innocent lives mean nothing!"

"Acceptable casualties."

Another panel in the wall slid open and two new Sentinels appeared. These appeared to be better armored, the exposed cables covered by metal plates. But Bobby saw a different target, one he had to take regardless of the risks. Before the door could close, he created a pillar of ice to jam it. The pillar cracked under the strain, but he slid by it just before it shattered and the door slammed shut. Alarms began to sound in the complex, and he quickly scanned for an exit. He was in a large manufacturing plant and he could see smaller Sentinels in various degrees of construction. Across the room was a door to another part of the facility.

Continuing his slide, Iceman blasted as much of the room with freeze beams and ice shards, hoping to do as much damage as possible. Machines grinded to a halt, while other shorted out, and a few small explosions peppered the room.

Just as he neared the door, it and the wall it was built into exploded outward, sending the mutant flying back to the other side of the room. Through the smoke, more Sentinels entered the room, too many for him to count. From his spot on the ground, he sent ice beams towards them, freezing them from the ground up. Using this slight distraction, he hit a button on the wall that reopened to way to the test range, figuring two would be easier to fight then a legion at this point.

The two Sentinels we waiting for him and fired another volley of energy at him. He ran as quickly as he could toward them, freezing the air in front of him to block the incoming bolts. He could feel himself get hit a few times in the chest and arms, but ignored them, continuing to attack until he ran between them. The Sentinel on his right tracked him with his shots, hitting the other Sentinel and destroying it in a shower of exploding metal. Bobby propelled himself upwards and around the robot, grabbing onto its neck and dangling behind it. It tried to reach him, but its arms weren't flexible enough to grab him from his perch. As it thrash about, he held his hands to the side of its head, gripping along the ridge or its helmet design, and began to channel his power.

"Gotta get it colder, gotta go colder," he muttered in concentration, forcing the temperature of the metal between his hands beyond anything he had ever managed before. The Sentinel eventually stopped moving, its body frozen from the inside. He let go, falling to through ground, temporarily exhausted from his efforts.

"Impressive, I'm detecting unprecedented temperatures created by you. I must say your tenacity is astonishing. I admit a part of me regrets what is inevitable here today. Please, for your sake, surrender."

He looked up to see the Sentinels from the other room had entered and surrounded him, weapons pointed at him. He stood up slowly and they tracked him, but did not fire.

"It really is pointless to continue, and I feel I owe your for what you have displayed here. You have been trained well. I hope you realize this is not personal at all for me. I don't take any pleasure in it. But what has to be done must be done."

"Oh good," Bobby said, "I was worried about our friendship there for a minute. You realize X-Men don't give up. I'll get out of here and rescue them, and we'll take you down."

"Optimism is as futile as resisting. And by all accounts you are not on Xavier's elite team."

"Maybe I've been promoted."

"Posthumously? I suppose it could be possible, if not for the entire school being captured."

"Posthumously then."

"Last chance 35."

"Then I'll take it."

Thrusting his hands downwards, he propelled himself into the air on a pillar of ice, knowing full well that no matter what he did at this point, he was going to die.


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

Bobby Drake was alive. He had no idea for how long, but he was alive. His ice form was blackened with burn marks here and there, but he hadn't suffered any major injuries. His first attack when he was surrounded was to create an area blast that affected most of the Sentinels, the cold damaging their targeting systems. He now held in his hand a sword made of ice, thankful for the sword training he had been receiving from Logan. Around him were the remains of destroyed Sentinels that the blade had brought down. Most of them appeared to be half built, or prototype models. No doubt the real things would be much stronger when completed.

He couldn't say long he had been fighting, but his luck had yet to run out. He didn't have a plan, he didn't have a way out, all he knew was that he couldn't give up. As long as he was still standing there was hope, hope that he would be rescued, hope that he could escape and rescue the others, hope that somehow he would get out of this mess.

To his right a Sentinel moved in, blasting laser bolts at Iceman's head. He easily ducked the misaimed shot and froze the ground beneath the robot. Its right leg slipped forward, pulling the Sentinel into an awkward split. Bobby rushed forward, using his ice blade to lop of the head of the machine. He stretched his left hand behind him, hitting the Sentinel coming up on him with a solid ice pillar that forced it and another behind it into a wall, shattering their chest armor and destroying the mechanics beneath.

"Why do you insist on continuing? You know your demise is inevitable. And you only serve to help create the Sentinels stronger in the future."

Bobby ignored the intercom; he was getting sick of it and the scientist's incessant Agent Smith act. Spinning the sword his hands, he cut down another pair of Sentinels that appeared out of holes in the floor that quickly sealed. He was waiting for a door of some kind to open and allow him the opportunity to at least escape this room.

More Sentinels, more ice attacks, the fight continued. Occasionally he would get stung by a stray blast, but so far his ice armor had protected him. And then what looked like a break came. He could see the wall on one side of the room was opening. It was a large opening forming, which meant a lot of Sentinels behind it, but he could hopefully ice slide over them. He finished one last Sentinel with another ice beam and began a slide heading to the door.

But when he saw two glowing yellow eyes high up in the darkness, he quickly turned around and headed back down his slide. He could see another door open on the other side of the room, and behind it was another full sized Sentinel.

"ORDERS RECEIVED, TERMINATE MUTANT 35," they echoed in stereo.

Twin fusion cannon beams swept the room, destroying ice bridges and smaller Sentinels alike. Bobby crashed to the ground, winded. He managed to raise his head to see the Sentinel in front of him raise its palm, a circular opening there glowing and powering up.

The entire room shook, and the Sentinels held off their attack to steady themselves. Bobby felt something push him up against a far wall just as the ceiling began to collapse in above him. Some of the concrete fell down onto the two Sentinels, which raised their arms to protect their heads. Other pieces began to move in the air near the newly created hole, forming a vortex of swirling cement. Pieces of the destroyed Sentinels rose off the ground and began pelting the two larger Sentinels. Bobby looked down to see what had moved him was part of a Sentinel arm, which lifted of the ground and joined the rest in the assault of the full sized robots.

"UNEXPECTED MUTANT CONTACT. KNOWN MUTANT 1 IDENTIFIED. EXTERMINATE IMMEDIATELY."

The pair of Sentinels lifted their arms upwards and fired the cannons in their hands, but the beams hit the spinning funnel around the opening. When the burst died, shards of metal swarmed out of the hole like hornets, impaling themselves in the joints and other unarmored parts to the Sentinels. The metal continued to press forward, digging deeper into the Sentinels until Bobby couldn't see any of the shards. The robots trembled for a moment, and then exploded outward as the imbedded metal flew out. He tried to form an ice shield to protect him, but was too weak to manage much more then a thin base.

The shards flying directly towards Bobby halted a foot away from him, hovered pointed to him ominously for a few seconds, and flew back to join the rest of the debris currently swirling near the gap in the ceiling. And then Bobby saw him. Slowly lowering down from the hole, cape flowing around him and his red armor almost glowing in the dim light, was Magneto. He came to rest in the center of the mass of objects he was moving through the air, and the all of it lowered to the floor. He walked over to Bobby, and the shield around him fell to the floor. He offered his hand to the young man.

"Gotta say, you're probably the last person I expect to see, and with such a flashy entrance," he said as he was helped from the ground. They walked toward the center of the room.

"Indeed, I probably am. When I heard of the attack on the Institute I could not sit idly by and let this crime go unpunished. As for the entrance, it is always better to scare the enemy with a display of power to give you an edge in battle. The humans we face are cowards and hide behind their machines. Always show them you do not fear them!"

"Yeah, that's great, but we need to go rescue the others. I have no idea where they took them."

"Have no fear Iceman. The Brotherhood is currently freeing all mutants wrongly taken hostage by the humans. I see the doubt in your eyes, but I assure you, the Brotherhood is a much more cohesive team then before. I have taken a more personal hand in their training. And now with the addition of the X-Men to our ranks, our Brotherhood of Mutants will stand united against our oppressors, and take what is rightfully ours."

Bobby stopped dead in his tracks. "We're not joining up with the Brotherhood buckethead. Not all of us want to kill and maim people. We just want to live a normal life like everyone else."

He could feel Magneto's eyes glaring at him from the shadows of his helmet. "Do you think mutants will ever be able to live a normal life as long as human are allowed to do what they want? As long as we live under the yoke of men like this?" The armored man raised his hand and from the hole lowered the scientist who had been observing Bobby. He was sitting in a large leather desk chair and bound with pieces of rebar ripped from the surrounding cement. His mouth was gagged with a thin strip of metal that wrapped around his head. The chair landed between Magneto and Bobby, and Magnus grabbed the man's head and forced him to look straight at Bobby. "Men like this who would put every mutant in the world into concentration camps, to experiment on them for the 'good of the world' and end their lives in what is deemed the cheapest 'final solution' possible? I have lived it before, and I will not allow it to happen again. And if mutants continue to follow Charles Xavier's pacifist ideologies towards humans then men like this will be free to do all they want to us."

"Sure, there's scum in this world like this guy, but not everyone is like that. Most people just want to be safe and live their lives. What are you going to do? Lock them all up somewhere? Kill them all so only mutants are left? How are you better than him?"

He could feel the anger radiating off of Magneto, and several shards of metal on the ground around Bobby began to shake. He tensed, ready to deal with this new threat, but he felt the gaze from under the helmet relax slightly and the shaking stopped.

"You do not understand me or my vision, and so I will let that comment go. But know that I am nothing like this man here. Charles and I have the same goals, a peaceful world, with mutants and humans coexisting. I do not wish to rule the world, nor does Charles. But Charles refuses to deal with dogs like this pathetic whelp the way they should be dealt with. You said it yourself Iceman, there is scum in the world, and we must deal with it accordingly before there can be peace. I will make that sacrifice, as should all mutants on this planet. We must unite and help shape this world for a better tomorrow."

A large shard of metal lifted off the ground, one end of it compacting into a rough hilt while the other sharpened. The make-to sword floated to Bobby hilt first. "Take it Iceman, use it on this man who has hunted your friends from afar, tortured and experimented with our kind for simply being born different. Join me, join us, in helping this world. Charles dream is just that, a wonderful dream. But it is implausible, and thus we must work to make the world ready for it."

Bobby grabbed the sword hilt, looked it up and down in wonder. Of all the things that could have happened today, nothing he had ever expected in his wildest dreams occurred. Here he was, holding a sword made by his enemy, asked to execute another enemy, maybe a greater one. He looked at the scientist, whose eyes pleaded for mercy, mercy he himself was never willing to grant. "I'm better then that," Bobby whispered nearly inaudibly.

"I didn't hear you Iceman. I grow impatient. Do it and let us make sure our brothers and sisters are safe."

"I said," his voice rising, "that I'm better than him and I'm better than your crazy cult!" He threw the sword to the side. It never clattered to the ground but swept upwards and the flat of it hit Iceman back into the wall with. The sitting scientist rose into the air and flew at the nearest wall, colliding with a sickening thud.

Magneto's feet rose off the ground, the objects around him again forming to the circling shield around the Master of Magnetism.

"You have disappointed me Iceman, or should I say Bobby Drake, a child unworthy of his self-chosen name. You had a potential far beyond the level of power you have now. But I can no longer make allowances those who would undermine the rise of mutantkind. Whether they are human or mutant, they must not be allowed to stand in the way of evolution."

The circling metal around Magneto suddenly stopped circling and flew straight at Bobby. Panicked, he summoned all the power he could, generating a wave of ice that headed towards Magneto. Much of the debris broke through the wave and continued towards him, while the wave of jagged ice continued towards Magneto. Both attacks were too large for either to dodge.

Time slowed down. Images flashed before his eyes, of his life, his regrets and joys, things he had loved and would have loved to have done. Knowing full well that this was it, Bobby at least found some comfort knowing that the psycho in the armor wouldn't survive this either. He stared at his death one last time and prepared to embrace it, closing his eyes to steady himself.

"Computer," a familiar voice echoed above him, "end program."

Bobby waited for he metal to hit him, but nothing happened. He cautiously opened one eye, and found that he wasn't in an underground Sentinel factory, that there was no barrage of metal flying at him, that there was no Magneto or Sentinels or scientists. There was a lot of ice, and plenty of destroyed drones, but beneath that the familiar metal walls of the Danger Room greeted him.

He stood slumped against the wall, mouth slightly open in shock at the whole things. He noticed the platform from the command room was lowering down, but hardly gave it a second glance. "I've been in the Danger Room the whole time? When the hell did I get into the Danger Room? It was so damn real."

"While you were coming downstairs. Your mind was distracted and it was easy to redirect you without you noticing," Jean said.

"And Forge made some major upgrades to the hologram generators," Kitty added. "No way you could tell it wasn't real."

He looked up, and saw the entire X-Men team standing with Logan and Professor Xavier. "Why?"

"We needed to be sure of a few things about you Bobby," Xavier said. "While I could always just see into your thoughts, thoughts and actions do not always relate. This way we could properly test your reaction to various situations while you were in them."

"Test my reactions?"

"Hey, cheer up Popsicle," Logan said. "It's not every day you become an X-Man."

"X-Man?"

"Yeah! Congratulations Bobby, you totally nailed the test!" exclaimed Kitty

"Yes, congratulations are in order. You have exceeded our already high expectations," Xavier added. "I know you're confused and surprised, but understand that during my time with Apocalypse I was able to see dark times ahead. Many of the scenarios you faced today may be similar to those that are coming. I do not want to put you into any situation that I know you cannot handle. And you have proven yourself more than ready to face the challenges ahead."

Scott spoke up. "Just look at it like a long training session. It tested your teamwork, your leadership, you ability to think on your feet, handle yourself in a fight, and tested your loyalty."

"Did you go through something like this?" he asked.

"You are the first member of the New Mutants to reach a point where joining the X-Men was an option," the Professor said. "As such, we felt it was important to test as many aspects of what will be required of you as possible. It may seem a bit harsh, but our world is becoming an especially harsh place. This test was designed to help show you that, as well as prepare you for it, while giving us an idea of what to expect from you as an X-Man."

"Ja dude, und you did awesome!" Kurt said.

"None of you get it, do you?" Bobby yelled at last. "I almost died in here, and yeah, I know now that wasn't possible with the safeties in place, but I didn't know that at the time and it sure as hell felt like I was going to die! The whole life flashing before my eyes thing, that actually happened. And you guys come down here and talk like it's some necessary thing, like it's no big deal that you threw me into this. Did you ever consider what it would be like for me?"

"Don't point fingers at me, ah've been against this whole stupid idea from the start," said Rogue, folding her arms and glaring at Cyclops.

The team leader tried to ignore Rogue, but there was anger in his voice. "Look, we needed to know, all right? It's not like you've proven yourself the shining example of maturity, even in combat situations. How do we know you're going to be able to handle yourself again Magneto, or all this anti-mutant sentiment that's being drummed up? For all we knew you'd fall apart."

"Screw you Scott, Mr. High and Mighty X-Man," Bobby said, his anger at the situation forming into ice around his hand. With one quick swing, he punched Scott with a hook to the jaw. Scott tumbled to the ground. "I don't know how any of you can call yourselves the heroes when you mess with one of your own like this."

Bobby walked past the stunned X-Men towards the door. As he reached the door he stumbled a bit and slumped against it as a wave of exhaustion came over his body. Kitty ran to help steady him, but he shrugged her hands off his shoulders. He hit the panel next to the door and it slid open with a hiss. He stalked out.

"Bobby!" Kitty called out, making to follow him.

"Kitty, wait," Xavier said. "Give him time. He's been through a lot, and he needs to sort it out himself. We weren't fair to him, but hopefully he will come to see why."

* * *

**A/N: One chapter to go, some resolution to the issues at hand. My profile has an updated list of future stories for those that are interested. They won't all be as action packed as this one has been, but will be part of the same timeline/story arch. Thanks again for reading.**  



	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Amazing how life's little diseases will prevent a chapter from being written. Here's the conclusion.

* * *

**

**5**

Bobby sat with his back against the marble pillar of the gazebo, staring off at the horizon. The morning sun sent glitters onto the waves below, birds chirped in the woods behind him, and smell of the salt water below were doing little to relax after his recent ordeal. The tattered remains of his t-shirt blew gently in the breeze, and he couldn't help but give a sharp laugh at how ridiculous he must look.

He was furious over what happened this morning. The past year he'd practically been an X-Man! How had he not proven himself to them with everything he had done? He'd handled everything the X-Men had, and still they felt the need to throw him into the Danger Room, watch his friends get captured and possibly killed, and then have to fight his way through one outrageous situation after another, until he himself had died, or close enough to it.

He made an ice chunk and threw it in anger. He thought they had been his friends, his team mates, and the people he could count on when his back was up against the wall. Instead he was their guinea pig, someone to try out their new Danger Room upgrades on. That wasn't the team he wanted to join, that wasn't his idea of what being and X-Man was. They were the good guys; they weren't supposed to play mind games with each other.

He started to cross his arms but his right hand hurt as he brushed it against his arm. He slowly made a fist and stared at it. Even iced up it had hurt to punch Scott. "Idiot has a thick jaw," he muttered to himself, flexing his hands a few time. He didn't know if it was Scott's bright idea or the Professor's, but Scott had agreed with it whole heartedly, and that pissed him off. "Uptight jerk, who does he think he is?" he continued to mutter. "I should punch him with the other hand to balance things out." At least Rogue had thought it was a bad idea to put him through the Test. He guessed with the amount she had been through as a kid and recently with Mystique, jerking someone else through the emotional rollercoaster would be something she would avoid. He couldn't be angry at her, she had probably done everything she could to dissuade the others, which only made him angrier at them for ignoring Rogue's wisdom. "They never giver her credit," he thought, "Scott, so uptight, never listening to anyone else." That and everyone else had seemed for it. Jean of course went for it. "Some telepath," he thought, "couldn't even sense how messed up this whole thing is. The perfect couple, always together, do they ever have their own opinions? Makes me sick." Kurt didn't know how to question orders unless he was terrified of something, and Kitty... the brief regret at how he treated her was quickly replaced with more anger. "As smart as that girl is, she has no idea how to deal with people."

Ignoring the slight ache in his hand, he folded his arms and returned to staring out at the sea, stewing in his anger. He didn't know what he would do now. Would he go home? His parents were supportive of him being a mutant, but fear of mutants was the highest it had been since mutants were first exposed. He didn't know what sort of danger he would put them in. He had some money saved up, he could always catch a bus or train to California. Jubilee had been on his case lately about visiting her, and he hadn't seen his friend since she was pulled from the Institute. He could just stay a New Mutants, though it would be a while before he cooled down enough to do much at the Institute other than eat and sleep. He felt no need to be angry at them; they had nothing to do with it. It would be hard to avoid the X-Men though, and he wasn't sure if he could control himself around Scott at this point.

His thoughts continued to jump from idea to idea. Sometimes he thought about what he would do now, or the events of the morning, the regrets he had in his life that his near death forced him to face, and of course the rage at the X-Men for putting him through all of it.

"'How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it,'" he heard from the direction of the school, pulling him out of his thoughts. He turned to see Beast padding towards him, a hint of fangs in his sad smile.

"Don't remember that one from my Shakespeare class, Mr. McCoy."

"I hope not. It was said by Marcus Aurelius," with a small leap he vaulted over the gazebo rail and sat down on top of it, his eyes matching Bobby's gaze onto the ocean below. "Before what I imagine is your considerable anger is directed towards me, I want you to know that I am a neutral party in this. I was against the idea, and I'm out here on my own volition, not at the behalf of any of your teammates or the Professor."

"Nice to know that some people have kept their heads on straight."

They continued to sit for a while, neither saying anything as they stared into the morning. Finally Hank, not turning his head to look at Bobby, began to speak.

"The question I pose to you Mr. Drake, is if what you told me a few weeks ago still stands, what consequences does this anger hold for your dreams of being an X-Man?"

"I don't know if I want to be a part of them anymore."

"And why is that? You've made it very clear you wanted to be an X-Man and now there is a uniform waiting for you in the Professor's office. What happened to your overwhelming enthusiasm towards being a hero, to bring good and bring justice to the world, to show mutant kind in a positive light?"

"Apparently you don't get it either Doc. I almost died in the Danger Room today. A couple of times actually, but right there at the end, shards of metal flying at my head, that was it, I was ready to die. I've faced death before on other missions, but nothing like that. This was the big, no one is going to rescue me death. And then it all turns out to be fake, a show put on by the very people I was praying to come in and rescue me at the last moment. Are those really the type of people I want to be fighting alongside? The type who would make me go through that? And then there's Scott Summers, wouldn't know empathy if it beat him over the head. How am I supposed to follow him if he doesn't even understand how the people he's leading are going to take his orders? I have half a mind to go punch him again."

"More consequences you may not want to deal with Bobby. You are forgetting that Scott is only a few years older than you are. Like you, he's been put into situations and given responsibilities that are abnormal for someone of his age to have to deal with."

"Okay, so Scott screwed up because he's a stupid kid. Same with the others. They don't know any better. I can understand that a little, but that doesn't mean what they did was right and that I should be okay with it. And the Professor should have known better, Logan should have known better."

Hank chuckled. "Logan would have everyone doing surprise drills like that at all hours if he had it his way. He often forgets that not all of you are training to be super soldiers and that danger is not always lurking around every corner. As for the Professor, he is, well it probably is not my place to say."

"It's about what he saw when he was with Apocalypse, isn't it? He mentioned it earlier."

"Yes, it is. Bobby, I will tell you this in the strictest confidence, and I tell you only because it will help you understand why you were put through the test you faced earlier. I have known Charles Xavier a very long time, and I have never seen him as scared as he is now. He put on a face of caution but optimism when he spoke to the Institute after Apocalypse. The visions he saw are fragmented and unclear, but he saw much more darkness ahead then he told us about that afternoon. He knows great burdens will fall onto the X-Men's shoulders, and he is afraid they will not be strong enough. He knows some of us will not make it through this."

"And that's why all of this happened to me?"

"It's my belief, yes."

"What do you think I should do then?"

"The future of the X-Men is going to be about sacrifice, sacrificing much of yourself, maybe your life, to help others and fight the coming darkness. You need to ask yourself if you're willing to do that. You proved today that you were when backed into a corner, but now it's your choice. It is a decision that only you can make. But for what it's worth, I knew long ago that you would grow to be the man you are now, and I know you can face what is coming." He patted the young man on the back and stood, turning back to the mansion. "No matter what you choose, you will have to talk to the Professor." He walked off leaving Bobby alone again with his thoughts.

-------------

Bobby stood outside the Professor's office, wondering what exactly he was going to tell him. He spent another hour outside after Beast left, thinking about what the teacher had to say and about his future. His anger had subsided, mostly, and he was left feeling a bit numb about the whole ordeal. Still, he was glad he hadn't met anyone on his way here. Dealing with Xavier was enough for him to do at this point, having to see the others, like Scott, or worse, Kitty, was something wasn't ready for just yet.

He lifted his hand to knock and hesitated. Was this what he really wanted? What if he changed his mind? Would he ever have the opportunity to make this decision again? What would the others think of this? Would they even accept his decision?

"I've gotta stop beating myself up over this. Just go in there and get it over with," he thought. "You're the Iceman, stay chill, you can do this."

He lifted up his hand to knock. "_Come in Bobby,_" the Professor's voice echoed in his head before his fist fell.

"Hate when he does that," he muttered, and opened the door.

Xavier was behind his desk, his eyes calmly watching Bobby enter. On the desk was a large box pushed off to the side, and several file folders were opened in front of Xavier. He closed the one he was reading and gestured to the chair in front of the desk. Bobby sat down and bit the inside of his lower lip, not sure how to start. The Professor sat back quietly watching him, letting the teenager make the first move.

Finally, Bobby found somewhere to begin. "I want to apologize for earlier, I was angry and pretty far out of line."

"It is I who should apologize to you Bobby. I had no right to put you through what I did. Your anger is completely justifiable. Though, Scott may feel differently."

"Yeah, that's going to take some work." There was another moment of silence before he continued. "I'm still pretty angry about what happened. And I really hope you don't do it to anyone else. But I understand why you did it."

"Hank told you about what I fear?"

"Yeah, some of it."

Xavier brought his hand to his chin, resting his head on his fist for a moment. "It is incredibly frustrating knowing that darkness is coming, and that it will affect my students so deeply. So much of what is about to happen will rely on the actions of the X-Men to bring the world safely through it. As much as I would like to avoid putting any of you in danger, I'm afraid it is unavoidable. All I can do is ensure that the team is as prepared as possible."

Bobby looked the Professor right in the eyes. "Whatever is coming, we'll face it and we'll do our best Professor. It's what we've been taught to do."

"You truly are a remarkable student Bobby, and a fine choice to promote to the X-Men," he said with a smile as he slid the box across the desk to Bobby.

He looked at the box for a moment, one last instance of hesitancy and picked it up. "I like to think I am too." He stood and gave the Professor a smile. "Hope you don't mind, but I've got some things to smooth over and some people to show this off too."

And with that, Bobby Drake, X-Man, walked out of the Professors office to face the rest of his life.

* * *

**A/N: And thus endeth the opening story to a series that is spiraling out of control in my head with the scope of it. Check my profile to see what's coming up, hopefully the first chapter of the next in the series will be up soon (should probably start it first).**

**Up next: Reunions, Recruits and Romance  
**


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